Four common ladies suit bloopers

On the way to the city yesterday, I shared a bus with a lady in a dark skirt suit. It was the middle of the day, the bus was almost empty & everyone had lots of room to relax.

The lady looked around mid 30s and she was petite. I'd estimate she was a size 10. 

The suit was high street it could have been Basque (Myer) or Country Road for example. It was a wool blend but it would have stood up to an interview in a conservative office. 

I especially liked that the jacket and skirt fit her nicely through the body. No pulling, no smiling skirt lines, knee length. Totally conservative office appropriate. So far, so good.

Then I got bored. It was a bus trip after all. I looked at the rest of her. That's where the love stopped.

The shoes

Here is a photo of her shoes.

Not only are they scuffed, they are ripped & torn in many places. The heels are worn completely. They look like she doesnt care about her image. 

Note also when I looked at these from a distance the issues werent as visible. That doesnt make them OK. When you interact with people, unless its on the telephone, they will notice. 

Next - the cuffs

When you are sitting at a desk, in a meeting (or an interview!), your cuffs are super visible. 
Look at this lady's cuffs. 

The cuffs have been turned back about 5 cm to reveal a pale pink lining. 

Firstly, in an interview situation, I wouldnt want to reveal any contrast lining. Turned back or otherwise. All the contrast does is bring attention to the clothes. Bringing attention to the clothes distracts from the message you are sending that you are competent & capable. 

In a day to day job situation, this looks says: "I have short arms and I cant be bothered to shorten my sleeves professionally." Even if the lining is ironed, is this the impression you want to give?

The scrunched rolled sleeves we see the bloggers wearing is a casual look. Totally OK in that context. In the office when its not casual Friday, no. 

The boobage

Next......notice the boobage?

At some angles, the boobage wasnt apparent. But from where I was sitting, it was all I could see. If its all I can see, its going to be all your colleagues can see. Is this the impression you want to give?

Even if you work in a casual or creative office, this will detract from your level of professionalism, credibility & respect. 

Plus, dont forget to bend over in the change room to make sure you see all potential boobage in addition to the front-on views. 

At this point, I realised I was getting close inappropriate behaviour. So I stopped taking photos. 

But there was one more thing to mention. 

Jewellery

The lady was wearing a pierced earring with a couple of adjacent diamonds sitting on her ear. They were set in white gold. She was also wearing a fine chain with a pearl pendant. The chain was matt gold, the pearl was set in matt gold and the pearl was creamy, not white. This may not appear to be a hanging offence, but it detracted from a harmonious look. 

Why?

The ears were in the cool tones & the neck was in the warm tones. 

I know some of you will yell at me about it being 2013 and it being OK to mix metals. I agree. Its OK - as long as you are dressing casually AND its appropriate.  

In this case, where business attire meets fine jewellery - keep your metals harmonious not clashing. 

I hope this post has given you something to think about. 
By all means, if you disagree, I'd love to have a chat about it. 
  

Lindsay kicks a sartorial goal - right in the middle of the posts.

I had to catch my breath when I saw this latest Lindsay Lohan look.

She has got it right - one of the few times of late.

I thought this was worth talking about on the blog, rather than just posting a photo/quick caption on the Style into Action Facebook page. Its a terrific example to learn from. 

What works here?

Print
The autumn tones of the flowers work for her complexion. The scale of the print is appropriate for a body with her enhanced assets (a small print would have just blended into the background).
Perfection. 

Fit
The fit is terrific - she is an hourglass and this dress is a good fit for big boobs/big hips/small waist. 

In the real world, its hard for a busty girl to get such a good fit in an "off the rack" garment which is all over fitted like this. Alterations would be necessary. That is, you buy the size that fits your largest body part (whether its boobs, or hips) & you alter the rest of the dress to fit the smaller body parts.

Hem
The hem length nods to the current midi trend, but is modest (not the usual tarty look).

Shoes
The shoes would not have been my first choice - but they still work as a pop of difference. 
The reason they works is the chunky shoe look grounds (pun intended) the prissy print on the dress. Ditto the blue colour. As for the suede with  floral summer dress - well, our nanas would be horrified but the contrast works in 2013. 

Modesty
For a girl with "assets" this dress has sufficient coverage so that she can wear the appropriate undergarments to give the dress a good foundation. In particular, the wide shoulder straps allow her to wear a decent bra with wide straps. 


What (almost) doesnt work here?

High neckline
A high neckline on a big bust is dangerous (potentially unflattering) territory. 
She pulls it off. Why? Because the print distracts from the impact which a high neckline creates - ie: he impact of a mono - boob. 

Exposed midriff
An exposed midriff on a large bust is also dangerous territory. Yes, its a huge trend for SS 2013 (southern hemisphere SS 2013/2014), but not for everyone. 

Why? Because you run the risk of having the boobs being exposed at the midriff & gravity is a bummer for little boobs, let alone big ones.

Se pulls it off. Why? The section above the midriff has good coverage of her breast cups & it doesnt look like anything is falling out. But look closely at the standing photo - there is a slight gap between the fabric & the rib cage - only slight, but gaps is how boobs fall out due to gravity. Luckily Lindsay's gap is small & the the distraction of the fussy print saves it. 


Note to file:

The designers of this dress are a duo, Max Osterweis & Erin Beatty (below) - stay tuned, I will tell you more about them shortly. 

Summary

If I could summarise why this look works well for Lindsay it would be 2 words. Fit & print (both colour & scale).

Even though she is just about to back to rehab, she just scored a serious goal.

Jeans - an easy tip for best fit

I have ranted previously (many times) that each size of an "off the rack" garment has to fit a gazillion different body shapes.

So it is unlikely that ANY "off the rack" item will fit you perfectly or even pretty well up front.

This will be the case for everything from swimwear to jeans to tops, bottoms and dresses.

Two solutions come to mind:

1. Hone in on the brands which cut for your shape.
2. Make your alterations person your new BFF.

Let's take the alterations solution and focus on jeans.

When you are buying jeans you need to consider many things:

- wash/print,
- leg length
- in seam length
- waist size
- crotch length - the "rise"
- pocket placement especially on the butt
- thigh width
- hem width

Am I scaring you?
I sincerely hope so.

All this means is that you have to spend time hunting down the jeans that fit you well.

After all, NO Pain, NO Gain.

Now let's focus on one aspect of jeans fit - the waist.

One of the commonest complaints about jeans fit is that the waist is too big & gapes at the back. ie: It doesnt follow your curves. Everywhere else, the fit is perfect.

If this is the only problem with the jeans), except maybe for leg length), there is an easy $10 ALTERATION which I want you to ask for.

Instead of unpicking the waist band & bringing in the centre back seam (a pretty big & costly job) - you ask for two darts to be placed on the back waist band & sewn flat.

The two darts should be on either side of the centre back seam.

Make sure they dont cut any fabric off - a good alterations place will be able to sew this dart FLAT without cutting off any fabric.


Voila!

Instant waisted curvy look.

What's the story behind this photo?

A couple of years ago I was looking for white jeans that werent super low nor super high waisted. 

I found that the Jane Lamerton white jeans fit me well except for this waist problem. So I bought two pairs (as you do when something fits well, hahaha) and had this alteration done.

I ended up wearing them to death (so to speak)....

Recently I unearthed them & tried them on - oops, a size (or two) too small now. But I unpicked one of their waist bands to see if that would help.....

Silly me, of course it didnt really help. 

But at least now they are back to original, I can sell them on ebay without the always tricky "have been altered" being included in the listing.

DONT FORGET: Jeans waist band too big?
Get 2 darts sewn in the back.
It'll cost you $10.
Easy, peasy, lemon squeezy.

Today's Style Tip: The power of alterations

   

If your clothes dont have good fit, then you dont have style. Period.

Sleeves need to be at the right length. Shoulder seams at the right place. 

Back vents shouldnt be sticking out from your body. 

Pant pockets shouldnt be mistaken for elephant ears. 

Skirts and pants should have ease that allows a finger to be inserted comfortably between the fabric and your body.
Blouse buttons shouldnt be doing peek-a-boo.
Seams shouldnt be rippling or straining.
Buttons should be attached securely and not missing.
Do I need to go on?

Please dont get hung up on sizes.


Always take your size into the change room, but also take one size up & one size down. 


Then relax. Clothes aren't meant to fit perfectly off the rack. After all everyone who is a size 14 has a different body shape - there is no way all size 14 people can fit into the off the rack size 14. And everyone who is a size 16 has a different body shape - there is no way all size 16 people can fit into the off the rack size 16. Get it?


The simple solution is to buy pieces that fit the largest part of your body and have them altered for the smaller parts of your body.


And dont balk at the price.


By paying a little extra to have your clothes fit your body means you'll wear them more often because you end up feeling better about how you look in them. Hence cost per wear (CPW) reduces.


How to find a good alterations place?


Go to the better stores in your city & ask who they use.

When trying out an alterations place, give them something small to do, like a hem or sleeve before you trust them with your Chanel suit.

Need recommendations within Australia? 

Just ask me.

Jacqui E - 3 piece suit offer $199

The above Jacqui E advertisement recently caught my eye. It was on the back cover of one of the Sunday Sydney newspapers style magazines.


I could not locate a PDF version on Google or on the company site, so I photographed the back of the magazine & uploaded it....where there's a will, there's a way...



Basically the offer is a 3 piece suit for $199AU - so that's a jacket, skirt & pants.



However you cant just choose any Jacqui E suit - the offer applies to suits from a selected range - which seems to be the "Ariel" range. 


The pre-offer prices of the Ariel collection are:
jackets - 230
pants - 120
skirts - 120 
total = $470


Wow! Now the offer sounds terrific - that's about 60% off (without a calculator!)



Now, Jacqui E arent stupid - they're running a business to make money and they arent going to give away their best quality wool suits at such a crazy price. In fact, the Ariel range looks to be a polyester/viscose/elastene blend. So if you treat this suit harshly, my bet is, it wont last long looking fabulous. As a lower priced suit, you have to be more careful how you treat it, than if you had invested in a more expensive suit.

So how do you make this $199 suit look like a million bucks (well, figuratively speaking)?

1. Dry clean all the three pieces together, so you dont get the fabrics of each piece fading at different rates.


2. Use Jacqui E's alterations place to make sure the sleeves end just below your wrist bone. There is nothing more obviously unfinished than cuffs tucked under with pressing seams trying to keep them in place.



3. Use Jacqui E's alterations place to lift the skirt hem to the best length for you, bearing in mind the official and unofficial dress code of your office. 


4. Never wear the pants or the skirt two days in a row as this places too much pressure on the seams & doesnt give the fibres enough time between wears to relax and fall back into place. 


5. Try not to wear the jacket more than two days in a row for the same reason as # 4. 

Spend some time thinking of how other things in your closet can substitute for the jacket, for the days when the jacket has a day off. This is shopping your closet.


6. When you take if off at the end of the day, hang all the pieces up (dont leave them draped over a chair or lying flat)...hanging them will ensure the creases fall out faster.


7. When you are deciding on the size to purchase, if any aspect of the jacket is pulling over your body, go up a size and have alterations take it in. Each piece should have enough room for you to insert a finger between the garment and your inner layer.


When you are deciding on the size to purchase, bring the typical inner layer you will wear with it, for the above purpose (eg: skivvy, blouse, sweater)

8. When you look at the skirt, you'll notice the back vent is overlapped, not edge to edge. That's a terrific feature that helps to keep the split well, unsplitted....nice one Jacqui E!

In case you're wondering - you'll recall that I constantly talk about cost per wear (CPW) and to always buy the best quality you can afford for core pieces (like suiting). Well, in case you cant afford to spend more and you do take advantage of this offer, I dont want you flogging this suit - be kind, be gentle and that's how this one will last the distance.

Lose weight without dieting and gymwork

Deadly serious.
I never joke about the benefits of fashion/style/wardrobe stuff. Never, ever, ever.

However, the secret to losing 3 kg by doing nothing is to make sure your hemlines are at the ideal (weight loss) level. Here are the four rules.

Rule No 1:

Skirts/dresses/3/4 pants:

Do not end skirt hems at the widest point of your calves (or thighs!!).

If you do, you will look heavier than if you dont, as the eye will be drawn to that wide point and will move horizontally in that spot. Horizontal eye movement adds kilos.

Nor do you need to end them at your narrowest point (ankles), that would be very Amish all the time.....yes, you can vary your hemlines, just dont have them sitting at the widest point of your legs.

Rule No 2:

Sleeve lengths:

Do not end sleeve lengths at the widest point of your arms (think cap sleeves on an older woman) nor at the level where your boobs are fullest.

If you do, you will look heavier than if you dont, as the eye will be drawn to that wide point and will move horizontally in that spot. Horizontal eye movement adds kilos.

Nor do you need to end them at your narrowest point (your wrists)......yes, you can vary sleeve lengths, just dont have them sitting at the widest point of your arms.

Rule No 3:

Jacket/sweater/top lengths:

Do not end jacket/sweater/top lengths at the widest point of your hips/thighs.

If you do, you will look heavier than if you dont, as the eye will be drawn to that wide point and will move horizontally in that spot. Horizontal eye movement adds kilos.

Also dont end them at your narrowest point (waist)...this will literally cut you in half visually and reduce the slimming vertical illusion - more about this in another blog post.

Rule No 4: Alterations:

Your alterations person will be your new best friend (BFF).



Why? Because the fit of "off the rack" is unlikely to fit you, just as its unlikely to fit everyone else who is your size. Why? because you all may all be a size 10 (or 12 or 14 or whatever), but you all have a different body shapes and different proportions. This is despite the fact that you are all the same size.

So you need an alterations person to tailor the "off the rack" item to your body shape and proportions.

Your alterations person can take up sleeves, tops (even knits), jackets and skirts.

Have your alterations person help you follow these rules & you will notice the weight loss in the mirror, instantly as she/he is pinning the garment on you. Yes, the impact is instant and immediate. The alterations person will ensure its permanent. Voila!

Because if you're like me, you hate exercise and hate diets.
So you use your clothes to emphasize your good bits and detract from your bad bits! Its all about know thyself!

Find an alterations person who does great work, is convenient, reasonably priced and communicates well. Stick with them. If you need referrals (all states in Australia), just contact me. I have very good contacts.